Earlier this summer my friend Maryann posted a quote from Don Miguel Ruiz, the author of The Four Agreements. (It’s a great book, by the way, and might possibly be all you’d ever need to know to live a full, rich, happy life.)

A few Facebook posts later, I found myself typing in a comment that would firmly tell the world my intention — to create community, something I’m passionate about. See, back in the spring I completed this absolutely amazing coursework in organization and relationship systems coaching. It inspired (rather,drove) me to vow, in front of all my fellow coaches, to develop a community-based coaching circle. Plus, I vowed to do something about it by this fall.

So, after our Facebook conversation, I was compelled (and, really, there’s no other word for it) to set my ideas free. After a few deep breaths, wondering if this was the right circumstance and place, I hit the button to post my intention for Maryann and the world to see.

Within three weeks, we had met and talked about what we this idea might mean. At the same time, I felt a second compulsion to pull a fellow coach, Angie, into the mix.Together, we created Authentically You Coaching Circles.

What had sparked as such a strong sense of purpose for me took shape in a more collaborative way than I had ever expected. I’m reminded of a greeting card I once bought that read, “You’re the answer to my prayers … You’re not what what I prayed for, exactly, but apparently you’re the answer.”

I think I’m reminded of that card and that quip because Authentically You is not exactly what I envisioned, although it’s exactly what it needs to be. And there’s the lesson for me, and, I might suggest, for all of us — if you have a burning desire to make something happen … like creating and fostering real community in a world that’s crying out for that very thing — it requires a community to make it happen. Well, maybe it doesn’t, really, but it’s certainly richer for it, and isn’t that what community is really all about?

Our community of three — Maryann, Angie, and I — evolved through a series of intuitive leaps and an unerring sense that each person was needed at this time for this purpose. Are we supposed to learn from one another? To feed one another’s self actualization? To create something that’s greater than any one of us could do alone? Undoubtedly so.

And now that the circle’s under way — three sessions down and three to go — it’s even bigger than the three of us who crafted it in the beginning. The circle is becoming its own creative force. The community that is growing will drive it forward.

So today, I’m grateful. I’m grateful for community, for those with the vision to create it, for those with the vision to recognize it, and for those with the need to find it. Like the sunflower, this circle is turning its face to the sun, basking in its warmth and drinking up its sustenance. May it also stand tall, and proud, and straight.